The present invention relates in general to liquid composition applicators for applying liquid pest-retardant compositions to the skin of pet animals, and more particularly to dispenser applicator devices including a squeeze bottle type container for applying anti-tick and anti-flea liquid compositions and the like to the skin of pet animals such as dogs and cats.
Heretofore, various flexible containers such as squeeze tubes or squeeze dispenser bottle devices have been provided to discharge liquid or relatively viscous flowable compositions onto various surfaces in desired amounts. While these flexible walled containers or tubes have come into wide use as a means of packaging many varieties of flowable materials, they share a number of problems, relating to their tendency to cause spurting or uneven discharge of the flowable material onto the deposit surface, wastage because of inability to discharge all of the contents, and the like. The usual configuration of the discharge orifice portion of such devices does not lend itself well to effective and efficient application of the flowable contents to the skin or hairy pet animals such as dogs and cats, as only a single narrow ribbon-like path or band of skin would receive the discharged material from such squeeze tubes or bottles as the discharge spout or orifice portion is moved along the application path between parted rows of hair or fur.
Hair and scalp treating comb-like devices have been used with rigid or squeeze type liquid reservoirs to apply medicament compositions directly to the human scalp but these usually involve the mere use of a comb having hollow teeth with open discharge orifices or having bristles which form liquid conducting pores communicating with the liquid reservoir to transfer the liquid medicament composition, or hair dye, or the like, to the scalp. However, these devices do not have the desired properties to achieve adequate control and placement of compositions such as anti-tick and anti-flea liquid compositions between the hairs or fur onto the skin of pet animals such as dogs and cats, and to the best of my knowledge, have not been proposed for this use.
An object of the present invention, therefore is the provision of a novel applicator and flexible walled container assembly for applying flowable liquid skin treatment compositions such as anti-tick and anti-flea compositions to the skin of pet animals such as dogs and cats which will apply the skin treatment composition in controlled amounts directly to the skin rather than to the hair.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel skin treatment composition applicator and container assembly as described in the immediately preceding paragraph wherein the applicator has hollow legs extending from a body portion resembling the kind of pet animal to be treated, serving as comb teeth to divide the hair of the pet animal to permit application of the treatment composition directly to the skin by felt or similar absorbent pads at the feet ends of the hollow legs.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of an efficient and inexpensive pet skin treatment applicator and container assembly as described in the two preceding paragraphs, wherein an elongated flexible walled container shaped like a round handle provides a squeeze bottle type container communicating by a pressure responsive valve formation with the applicator body and leg portion to supply controlled amounts of the treatment composition to the hollow legs when the handle is squeezed.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.